


1997, Take Two

by lonelywriterboy



Series: A Friend Like You [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Normal High School, Asexual Remus, Bisexual Sirius, Child Abuse, Gay, Gen, Homophobia, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, LGBT, M/M, Muggle Life, Racism, Teenagers, Violence, mogai, muggle, muggle interaction, teen wolfstar
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-07
Updated: 2015-05-07
Packaged: 2018-03-29 12:06:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3895690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lonelywriterboy/pseuds/lonelywriterboy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Remus is broken, Sirius is out, no one is satisfied.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1997, Take Two

**Author's Note:**

> Warning - homophobia and racism from one particular nasty character.

Sirius allowed a single tear to escape his swollen-shut eye as he leant against Remus. Bruises were swelling on his face at an alarming rate, despite Mrs Lupins application of ice and assorted creams which promised to stop swelling. He'd also taken paracetamol, which rather than solving the problem of pain had left him with a dry, dusty mouth and hadn't even touched the edge of the throb in his face. Remus, and Lyall and Hope, his parents, clustered around Sirius, hoping to offer him comfort by their presence, because what more could they do?

“I'm sure he didn't mean it, Sirius.” Lyall eventually said, reaching out to brush a strand of hair from Sirius' blood crusted face. Sirius smirked, before wincing – it hurt to contort his face into anything other than its natural state.

“Of course he did. Why else would he do it?”

“He was probably just surprised...” Hope glanced at her son, who wore his heart on his sleeve and could be relied upon to help her read a situation. His face was contorted with rage, but he was still soft and gentle, reaching out and rubbing Sirius' shoulder while carefully tending the scrapes which were still oozing blood.

“Sirius...we're going to have to phone Social Services, you know, and report your father.”

Sirius stared at Lyall with wild eyes before giving a barking laugh. “That won't do anything! They'll send me back and then he'll kill me!”

The three Lupins simply got closer to Sirius, for it was all they could do.

* * *

 

“Hey, faggot boy!”

Sirius smirked at Remus at the shouts behind them, entirely used to it. Having made the decision to come out shortly after the start of Year Eleven, he had fallen from the grace of the popular kids, which meant that now most of his time was spent with Remus and his raggle-taggle bunch of misfit mates. Remus didn't bother coming out himself, because he had no idea how to describe himself...he generally fancied boys, but never in a particularly sexual way. Still, maybe he was just waiting for the right guy to come along.

“Faggot!”

Sirius spun around on one foot to face the crowd of his old 'mates', who were glowering at him as they shouted.

“At least I don't want to shag my own mum like you do, Robert.” he shouted back, grinning as one boy flushed a spectacular shade of pink. Having been 'friends' with them for four years, he had a lot of gossip and information which he could throw back at them whenever he wanted to. Remus glanced anxiously between the crowd and Sirius.

“One day they're going to beat you up, Sirius.”

Sirius laughed. “I'd love to see them try. Haven't you seen them in PE? More hopeless than you and I.”

“Well, you're not _terrible_. You'd be excellent if you didn't muck about and hang around with me.”

“True, true.” Sirius agreed, grinning. “What'd be the fun in that, though?”

“Physical aptitude, better marks in class, popularity?” Remus was smiling too, though the taunts from the boys behind them still drilled into his brain, sickening him. Sirius slipped an arm around his shoulders, a casual act of affection between two friends, and the calls increased by tenfold.

“I love faggots.” Sirius suddenly said, startling Remus.

“Um- what?” Remus was utterly bewildered.

“Those little meaty things. I had them once with my Uncle Cygnus. I think they're made out of the guts of animals, and some bread and herbs. I think my mother would die if someone served her some.”

Remus still looked completely and utterly bewildered, but he shook his head and ignored Sirius' ramble. “Do you think you'll ever tell your parents?”

“Tell them what?”

“That you're bi.”

The barking laugh that escaped Sirius' lips sounded like a dog about to vomit – it was wild, hacking and rather bizarre. Sirius was certainly not a boy with a charming laugh. “Are you mad? My parents voted for the BNP in the election, they're about as conservative as you can get without actually being Hitler. I think they'd kick me out if I told them – then again, that wouldn't be such a bad thing. I could live in a little cardboard box and have a cool little cardboard blanket.”

Sirius' technique of skipping around the topic didn't go unnoticed by Remus. “It's a shame your parents are so crappy.”

“What about you, Mister 'I don't want to fuck anyone but I still fancy people' Lupin? Gonna tell your parents?”

“I don't really know what to tell them.” Remus replied, shrugging. “'Hey, mum and dad, don't worry about me knocking a girl up – I like boys, and I don't want to shag anyone anyway!'”

Sirius exploded into laughter, yanking Remus into a one armed hug and ruffling his neat brown hair. “Why didn't we become friends in Year Seven?”

* * *

 

“Mum? Dad?”

Remus peeked his head around the living room door to where his parents were sat together. His mother was writing on some official-looking forms while his father was reading a book. Both looked utterly content – Remus hoped with every fibre of his being that they'd remain content after he told them what he had to say.

“Yes, son?” Lyall smiled up at his son and patted the space on the sofa beside him, which Remus flopped onto after slipping into the room.

“I have something to tell you. Something pretty big.”

Hope turned her head inquisitively, while Lyall looked intensely at his son, his eyes fixed on the boy's pale, nervy face.

“I...I don't really know how to explain it. I th-think I might be gay.”

There was a moment of silence before Lyall enveloped his son in a tight hug. After a few moments, he let go, and Hope gently asked,

“What is it that you can't explain?”

Remus twitched with anxiety, his hands clenched together in his lap. “I don't...I don't experience sexual attraction. At all. I know it could just be a phase, or that I haven't found the right person yet, but I have never felt sexually attracted to someone.”

“Like an X on the Kinsey scale?” Hope didn't look confused, or angry, and Remus slowly relaxed back into his father, thanking every deity he could think of that he had accepting parents.

“What?”

“Do you know what the Kinsey scale is?” Hope asked. When Remus shook his head, she continued, “It's a scale to see how gay or straight someone is. If you score an X, you're asexual – you don't experience sexual attraction.”

Relief flooded Remus, and he let out a long sigh. “It's a thing? I'm not broken?”

Lyall pulled his son into another tight hug. “You're not broken, son. We love you. So, do you have a boyfriend?”

“No! Everyone at school is _extremely_ straight, except for Sirius – but he's Sirius, he's my best friend.”

Hope moved across the room and hugged Remus herself, wrapping her soft arms around his long, lanky frame.

“I love you so much, Remus.”

“I love you too, mum.” Remus replied. When she moved away, he spoke again. “Do you mind if I go upstairs again? I have a lot I need to think about.”

Once he'd left the room, Hope turned to Lyall. “We're so lucky to have him.”

Lyall nodded. They truly were.

* * *

 

“You told your parents? What did they say?”

Sirius truly treasured his half an hour lunch with Remus, for it was the longest they got together throughout the day. While they shared many classes, the distance between their surnames meant that they were rarely seated together, and even if they were, most of their teacher insisted on a very quiet class. Ms McGonagall was worst for that – she was extremely scathing of those who talked in her class, delivering vicious tongue-lashings which usually shut students right up.

“My mum mentioned something called the Kinsey scale. It measures how heterosexual or homosexual people are, and if you score an X, you're asexual – you don't experience sexual attraction.”

“That's awesome!” Sirius' face broke into a grin as he clapped his friend on the back. “Maybe I'll have a go at telling my parents, just to shock them if nothing else.”

Remus' eyes grew wide. “Sirius, you mustn’t! You said yourself, they won't take it well, and we both know what happens when your dad doesn't take something well...”

This was true. On several occasions Sirius had come into school with a black eye, or a bruised cheek, and had shrugged it off to everyone else as having come from a scrap at the bus stop, or from falling onto the bath. Remus was the only one he told the truth.

“Perhaps you're right. I'd love to see the shock on the old man's face, though...” Sirius grinned, before launching into an impression of his mother, hands clenched, eyes wide, voice shrieking. “Oh, _Sirius_ , how COULD you? You're a disgrace!”

Remus laughed, as Sirius expected him to, but he felt a quiet moment of sadness for his friend. Sirius would never be able to be truly free until he had left home and cut all ties.

* * *

 

The television was rarely on in the Black household, for Orion believed it to be a rather 'common' pursuit, and Walburga insisted that it was a waste of money. That didn't stop them from having the biggest screen available, and the most channels, though. Even in the private rooms which were rarely seen by visitors Mr and Mrs Black insisted upon impressing, showing off their wealth and status. That night, however, it was blasting out the news, and the four members of the Black family were sitting primly on the sofas to watch it.

“...three men were arrested at the London Homosexual Pride event today after attempting to stab another man...”

Orion snorted. “That'll teach him. Filthy homos, acting like they've got the right to take over our streets.”

Walburga nodded, a frown twisting her lips. “They should deal with them the old fashioned way – chemical castration.”

Even Regulus seemed to be nodding along, but Sirius had come to expect that: it'd been three long years since Regulus had crossed over to the dark side and become a mini clone of their father. It was no shock that he was just as prejudiced as them.

“Capital punishment's the only way to go.” Orion replied, crossing his arms across his chest. “Those bongo bongo countries that put them to death have got the right idea.”

Sirius didn't quite know why he did it. He didn't know what grabbed him and forced him to do it. However, energy coursing through him, he icily said,

“You want me to be put to death, then?”

Silence filled the queer little parlour, and Sirius shifted, the enormity of what he'd just done hitting him. His father would kill him, metaphorically or not.

“What did you just say?” Orion spoke slowly, his voice devoid of emotion. His face was a blank mask, staring at his oldest son with the worst kind of nothingness.

“I'm bisexual. I'm a 'homo'. Do you want me to be put to death?”

Orion was sat across from Sirius, and it took barely a second for him to cross the room and swing a punch at Sirius, a punch hard enough to send the boy flying into Regulus, who backed away quickly. He had seen enough of his father's temper to know to avoid it at all costs.

“Don't you fucking _dare_ say something like that in this house again. We didn't raise you to be a poof.”

“Too bad.” Sirius replied, clenching his jaw in preparation for the next swing. He never fought back. He couldn't.

Walburga and Regulus fled the room, both in tears, as Orion began to lay into Sirius.

* * *

 

Remus could hear Sirius crying in his own bedroom all the way from the bathroom, but he knew to ignore it. Sirius being Sirius, he needed to be alone for this. As soon as someone entered the room, the tears would cease and he'd be more his usual self, hiding the pain inside of him.

The toilet made a strange scraping noise as Remus flushed away his blades.

Never again.

Never.

 


End file.
